Chapter 513: Buddhist-Daoist Rivalry, Fated Duel

Lanling City.

Imperial Palace, inside the Imperial Study.

With the assistance of the Emperor, Ye Zean, and Xiang Yunshu, the Crown Prince gradually mastered the technique, and the transmission of the Son of Heaven's Dragon Qi became increasingly stable.

Suddenly, anger appeared on the Crown Prince's face:

"Pudu Temple! Truly damnable!"

He had already sensed the River-Suppressing Heavenly King's strike against the Sky-Blue Iron Cavalry through the intuition brought by the Son of Heaven's Dragon Qi.

"Calm your heart and still your breath."

The Emperor, sitting to the side, spoke calmly.

"Yes, Father Emperor."

The Crown Prince lowered his head and complied.

Li Fei had sent back important intelligence, saying that there was another Martial Saint behind the First Imperial Prince.

This matter naturally drew attention.

However, both the Emperor and Ye Zean had placed their suspicions on Pudu Temple.

Compared to other forces, the Buddhist sect actually had more motivation to make a move at this time.

For the Buddhist sect, although the imperial court had provided support, it was ultimately with wariness and caution; it was impossible to allow the Buddhist sect to develop too well.

Once it crossed a certain boundary, the "exterminate Buddhism" event of a century ago could repeat itself!

And if Pudu Temple stood out to support the First Imperial Prince's ascension at this time, they could possess the greatest initiative.

Making Buddhism the state religion in the future would just be a matter of a single sentence!

So from the perspective of interests, the Emperor and Ye Zean had focused their suspicions on Pudu Temple from the start.

Of course, they also didn't relax their monitoring of other forces.

In the end, it was confirmed that Pudu Temple had indeed participated!

A moment later, the Crown Prince's brows relaxed, and a look of triumph appeared on his face.

This was the moment True Lord Xuanxin made his move.

Back then, the Crown Prince was ordered to inspect the seven southwestern provinces and specifically climbed the mountain to visit the Daluo Sect to discuss the reform of the National Martial Dao Exchange Conference with True Lord Qing Xu.

At that time, True Person Xuanchen of the Shangqing Sect was following the Crown Prince (see Chapter 5, Volume 3).

At that time, he and the Shangqing Sect had already become very close, obtaining the support of some real power figures within the sect!

Being able to persuade True Lord Xuanxin to make a move this time was inseparable from the Crown Prince's early groundwork.

During the current Emperor's reign, the attitude toward the Daoist sect had always been one of suppression.

This just happened to give the Crown Prince a lot of room.

Once he ascended the throne, he could naturally bestow favors upon the Daoist sect.

This was also an important reason why the Shangqing Sect chose to support the Crown Prince back then.

Now, at this critical moment, if the Buddhist sect had truly rebelled, the imperial court would rely even more on the Daoist sect in the future, so True Lord Xuanxin was finally persuaded to participate in this battle on the Bai Feng Plains.

"You have a Martial Saint supporting you, and I have a True Lord standing on my side!"

The Crown Prince's eyes were firm, his hands holding the Imperial Jade Seal tightly, transmitting the Son of Heaven's Dragon Qi as steadily and quickly as possible.

Inverted Five Elements Great Array.

This array was not the Daoist sect's most powerful offensive array, but it was definitely one of the most difficult.

Under normal circumstances, it required at least twelve Xuan-level magic treasures, three Earth-level magic treasures, and one Heaven-level magic treasure to form the array.

That is, it required at least twelve True Persons and four top-tier True Persons joining forces to form this array.

Yet True Lord Xuanxin, without alerting anyone, formed the array with his own power in a flip of his palm, locking the Buddha-Eye Heavenly King inside!

The Buddha-Eye Heavenly King was caught off guard and hit, only able to protect his body with Buddhist light, the Buddha statue behind him inverted, enduring the suppression and refining of the great array.

His 【Ten Thousand Lights Return to Buddha】 could convert others' power for his own use, but facing the situation where all heaven and earth origin energy in the array was inverted, chaotic, and even space and Dao laws were distorted, 【Ten Thousand Lights Return to Buddha】 could only protect itself for the time being.

Even so, the Buddha-Eye Heavenly King remained calm, his brows full of compassion:

"I have long heard that your array attainments are the best in the world; seeing it today, it is well-deserved."

Above the great array, an old man wearing a green Daoist robe and a Daoist crown, with narrow eyes and a sharp gaze, stood in the void.

He was the Sect Master of the Shangqing Sect, True Lord Xuanxin, one of the three Daoist True Lords.

After Qing Xu died, only he and the one from the Yuhua Sect remained in the Daoist sect.

"Array attainments the best in the world?"

Hearing the Buddha-Eye Heavenly King's praise, Xuanxin felt no triumph, but instead gave a self-deprecating smile.

He had also always thought his array attainments were unparalleled, until Qing Xu covered the entire Ming Province with an array, combining the Son of Heaven's Dragon Qi with Daoist luck to establish a Daoist kingdom on earth; only then did he know how ridiculous his title of "number one array master in the world" was!

Back then, after Xiang Yunshu analyzed Qing Xu's handiwork with Dao laws, he bluntly said, "The title of number one array master should fall on you; for the Shangqing Sect to want to compete with the Daluo Sect is truly ridiculous." (see Chapter 58, Volume 3).

Xuanxin had no reaction after learning of this conversation, because he asked himself that if it were him, even if given the same Son of Heaven's Dragon Qi and Daoist luck, he wouldn't be able to establish a Daoist kingdom on earth.

He and Qing Xu were of the same generation; when they were young, both were Daoist prodigies, and each represented the Daluo Sect and the Shangqing Sect in many secret and open struggles.

Once both broke through to become True Lords and ascended to the position of Sect Master, one was number one in thunder techniques, the other number one in arrays, and they were even hailed as the "Twin Stars of the Daoist Sect Shining on the World"!

Xuanxin had also always secretly competed with Qing Xu, wanting to suppress the other party.

Yet he didn't expect that Qing Xu would end his life in that way.

He had always viewed Qing Xu as an opponent, but the other party had never viewed him as an opponent, because the other party had long since surpassed him!

"Qing Xu..."

Xuanxin's eyes were gloomy, lost in memory.

He didn't strike with full force to suppress and kill the Buddha-Eye Heavenly King.

Because his purpose for this trip was not to execute a Buddhist Heavenly King.

How could peak experts be so easy to kill?

Just looking at the price the Great Lan Dynasty paid to kill the two peak experts Qing Xu and Qiming, one knew the difficulty.

When killing Qing Xu.

When killing Qiming.

And now this peak battle on the Bai Feng Plains.

In just a few years, the Great Lan Dynasty's national fortune had plummeted, existing in three different levels!

The state preceptor Xiang Yunshu's state was the same; after killing Qing Xu, his Dao laws were already injured.

Before his injuries healed, he killed Qiming, and most of his life was gone!

Now he had to force himself to make a move, transporting national fortune from thousands of miles away; how much power could remain?

If the Great Lan Dynasty's national fortune had not been damaged and Xiang Yunshu's state was at its peak,

in this battle on the Bai Feng Plains, even if Xiang Yunshu didn't come, just by transporting national fortune from afar to bolster them, Wen Ren Zheng alone with the Sky-Blue Iron Cavalry could fight three!

Where would he need Xuanxin's help?

So Xuanxin didn't intend to kill; he wasn't Xiang Yunshu and didn't want to throw away most of his life here.

In today's battle, he only needed to trap a Martial Saint with an array to complete his mission.

The Buddha-Eye Heavenly King had sensed from the beginning that Xuanxin had no intent to kill, which was why he appeared calm.

"In the end, it still evolved into a Buddhist-Daoist rivalry."

The Buddha-Eye Heavenly King pressed his hands together:

"But now the trend is no longer with your Daoist sect; you took the initiative to enter the game this time, how much certainty do you have?"

Xuanxin remained silent.

Over five hundred years ago, the Founding Emperor of the Great Lan Dynasty fought across the world, becoming the first emperor to unify the Central Plains and conquer the entire Eastern Continent.

This was due to the Founding Emperor's grand strategy and brilliance, but also because he received help from the Daoist sect, refined Sha-weapons, and established the Imperial Camp Army.

In this world, there are only two lineages of cultivation techniques that are the strongest and most complete—the Buddhist and the Daoist.

The only ones capable of researching and mass-producing Sha-weapons were the Buddhist and Daoist sects.

Back then, the reason the Founding Emperor chose the Daoist sect and not the Buddhist sect was, firstly, because the Daoist sect had taken the initiative to send people to contact him, and the two sides had formed a good bond.

Another important reason was that the Buddhist sect was already very powerful at the time, while the Daoist sect was relatively weak.

The Founding Emperor worried that if he cooperated with the Buddhist sect, after his death, the power of religion would suppress the royal power, and this Great Lan Dynasty might turn into a Buddhist kingdom!

And precisely because the Founding Emperor chose to cooperate with the Daoist sect at the beginning of the founding, the Daoist sect enjoyed glory for over five hundred years.

The "trend" in the Buddha-Eye Heavenly King's mouth referred to the Daoist sect borrowing the Great Lan Dynasty's momentum.

One Supreme, three Demonic, five True Lords, seven Martial Saints.

One could see the strength of the Daoist sect from this title, actually counting the "Buddha" as a "True Lord"!

And there were sixteen peak experts in the world, with the Buddhist and Daoist sects combined having seven, accounting for nearly half!

So for over five hundred years, the Great Lan Dynasty appeared to support the Daoist sect, but in reality, it was using the Daoist sect to suppress the Buddhist sect.

When they felt the Daoist sect was too powerful, after the current Emperor ascended the throne, he began to suppress the Daoist sect, even lifting the limit on the number of Buddhist temples and starting to support the Buddhist sect.

If nothing unexpected happened, the chess game for the next few hundred years should have become using the Buddhist sect to suppress the Daoist sect, with the Great Lan Dynasty continuing to maintain balance.

As a result, they didn't expect Qing Xu to directly flip the chessboard...

"The Daluo Sect has sealed the mountain, the blood hatred remains, they won't make a move to help, and the imperial court doesn't trust using people from the Daluo Sect anymore."

"The Yuhua Sect has always avoided the world, focusing only on seeking immortality on the mountain. True Lord Chenjue's lifespan is nearing its end, and he is in seclusion contemplating the 'Yuhua Ascension Scripture,' so he certainly won't come to muddy these waters at this time."

"The Daoist sect now only has your Shangqing Sect that can stand out; Benefactor, do you think that relying on your sect alone, you can turn the tide?"

The Buddha-Eye Heavenly King asked with a compassionate face.

At this moment, he was trapped in the great array; even if Xuanxin didn't intend to fight him to the death, he couldn't escape for a while, so he could only try to influence Xuanxin's state of mind.

Xuanxin's expression was calm.

He knew that what the Buddha-Eye Heavenly King said was not false.

The Daluo Sect's luck had been exhausted by Qing Xu, nearly half of its experts had died, and the disciples and forces distributed in various provinces had also suffered heavy blows, which could be said to be a severe injury to their vitality.

Now they were relying on Tai Yu alone to support the sect, so the other party would definitely not make a move easily again.

Not to mention the deep blood hatred remained; Tai Yu would absolutely never make a move to help the imperial court.

As for the Yuhua Sect, Sect Master Chenjue was nearly two hundred years old, his lifespan nearing its end, and he was currently in seclusion contemplating the Yuhua Sect's supreme secret method, seeking to merge with the Dao and return to truth at the last moment of his life, ascending to immortality!

So Chenjue would absolutely not break out of seclusion at this time to participate in this battle.

"The imperial court has suffered heavy injuries, and our Daoist sect is also at a low point, so your Pudu Temple chose to make a move at this time; you truly chose a good time!"

Xuanxin said coldly.

The imperial court had long anticipated the Buddhist sect's entry into the game.

And for his Shangqing Sect's participation, Pudu Temple probably also had some anticipation!

"In the end, it's just doing one's best and listening to heaven's will."

Xuanxin stopped talking and focused on controlling the great array.

Outside the great array, without the Buddha-Eye Heavenly King's containment, Wen Ren Zheng could finally let go completely!

In the sky, the firmament tore like silk, and the dragon's roar shook the sky.

Wen Ren Zheng's pair of iron fists, carrying overbearing and peerless Qi, pierced straight through the golden dragon's spirit. The dragon's head exploded under the force of a thousand jun, golden scales flying like rain!

The headless golden dragon was still lashing its tail, driving the sea of clouds to turn into rivers and lakes, sweeping toward Wen Ren Zheng.

Boom—

The sea of clouds froze into ice, freezing the entire space.

At the same time, the splashed dragon blood quickly condensed into a red nebula, and in an instant, it gathered into a new dragon head!

Just as the dragon head recovered, Wen Ren Zheng broke through the ice and arrived on the golden dragon's back.

He threw a punch downward, the fist aura tearing through the hard dragon scales, revealing the flesh and dragon bones inside.

The flesh seemed to possess spirituality, healing rapidly, and Wen Ren Zheng immediately followed up with another punch.

The muffled sound of bones shattering shook the clouds, and golden dragon blood sprayed into a golden rain curtain along the broken blood vessels!

The golden dragon lashed its body wildly in the sky, the clouds and mist turning into thousands of ice blades, carrying the Dao law power of 【Taiyi Water-Merging】 to attack Wen Ren Zheng.

But no matter how the golden dragon lashed, Wen Ren Zheng always firmly stabilized his body.

Cities manifested from his acupuncture points, blocking the incoming ice blades.

Wen Ren Zheng took a step forward, arriving on the newly healed dragon head, his fist force penetrating the golden dragon's eye socket—the massive eyeball was stirred into a bloody paste by the fist aura!

Golden blood sprayed, forming a golden vortex, wrapping Wen Ren Zheng within it, rapidly wearing away those cities one by one.

The dragon blood stained Wen Ren Zheng's body, corroding most of his Eighth-Grade Divine Garment, the blood mixing with molten iron, breaking through his skin, and drilling into his flesh!

Wen Ren Zheng ignored it, just burying his head and continuing to throw punches.

The two Martial Saints' fight looked extremely bloody and savage, but the momentum was shocking, and their Dao law powers had already collided thousands of times!

Whether Wen Ren Zheng was the "First of the Seven Martial Saints," this was temporarily unknown.

But that he was stronger than Qin Mingli was already an indisputable fact!

Qin Mingli had already been injured many times before, especially severely injured by 【Heavenly Dry Divine Micro】 combined with the Son of Heaven's Dragon Qi; although he recovered, the consumption was not small.

Now, being beaten by Wen Ren Zheng with an unreasonable fighting style until his dragon body shattered repeatedly, he couldn't take it anymore.

Qin Mingli tried to rush toward the River-Suppressing Heavenly King's side, to swap opponents with the other party, or join forces to form a two-on-two situation.

This way, at least the River-Suppressing Heavenly King could help him share the pressure, giving him enough time to recover.

But all directions had long been locked by continuous Sha Qi.

This Sha Qi was like an army besieging a city, coming from over seven thousand Imperial Camp soldiers.

Wen Ren Zheng had long buried "ambush troops," controlling Sha Qi to silently cut off Qin Mingli's retreat!

On this side, Wen Ren Zheng had the upper hand, and on the other side, Huang Qiyuan led the Sky-Blue Iron Cavalry, and the situation gradually improved.

After True Lord Xuanxin made a move, two sword lights suddenly swept out from the void, like two startling geese, cutting through the sky and slashing at the golden river coiled around the azure giant.

Cutting two gaps in the river!

Natal flying sword, Heaven-level magic treasure.

The two who made the move were both top-tier True Persons, and top-tier True Persons who had practiced the Tiangang Earth Sha formation!

The Sect Master of the Shangqing Sect had made a move; how could the rest of the Shangqing Sect's experts not be here?

Following the appearance of these two flying swords, several more figures appeared from the void.

These people had also hidden themselves on flying magic treasures beforehand.

The Shangqing Sect's strength was second only to the Daluo Sect; besides one True Lord, there were two Grandmasters and three top-tier True Persons.

In today's battle, these five peak experts brought a group of Martial Dao Masters and True Persons to the Bai Feng Plains!

Seeing five peak experts enter the arena, without needing the River-Suppressing Heavenly King to speak, the five Grandmasters who were besieging the Sky-Blue Iron Cavalry took the initiative to meet them.

Compared to participating in the peak experts' confrontation, these people were actually more willing to fight experts of the same level, at least without having to worry about being deliberately targeted and then killed in one hit.

Without the five Grandmasters' assistance, and without the Buddha-Eye Heavenly King's containment, Huang Qiyuan immediately seized the opportunity, exploded with the help of the Son of Heaven's Dragon Qi, broke free from the Martial Dao river's restraint, and launched a counterattack against the River-Suppressing Heavenly King!

"This Bai Chen, where did he run off to at a critical moment?"

The River-Suppressing Heavenly King was a bit annoyed.

Bai Chen was a Lidao Realm Grandmaster and a sword expert who had mastered multiple creation sword techniques; if he were on the scene, cooperating with the others to outnumber the enemy, he could quickly break the balance.

At this time, if either side could have a few more Grandmasters or top-tier True Persons participate in the peak experts' battle, the impact on the battle situation would not be underestimated.

Although the River-Suppressing Heavenly King was strong, the Sky-Blue Iron Cavalry had the Son of Heaven's Dragon Qi's support; relying on him alone, he could at most maintain a stalemate.

On the plains, a group of peak experts and over four thousand Imperial Camp soldiers were in a chaotic battle.

Inside the 【Mixed Origin Sword Realm】, Li Fei slashed another Buddha statue to pieces!

But the shattered Buddha statue's golden body would recover in the blink of an eye.

This was Jing Lian's core divine ability—【Pure Land Reincarnation】!

This divine ability, combined with the derivative changes of the formation, allowed the Buddha statue's power to circulate repeatedly within the Pure Land Barrier.

No matter how many Buddha statues Li Fei shattered, or how many times he shattered them, the Pure Land's power would not be depleted in the slightest, and the Buddha statues could recover rapidly!

Undoubtedly, this method was top-tier "grinding."

After Li Fei shattered a few Buddha statues, he realized the profundity of this, and just as he was planning to change methods, a sword light suddenly entered the two small worlds.

"Hmm?"

Li Fei's heart moved, as if attracted by something, almost subconsciously turning to look.

In gray clothes, holding a three-foot green blade, looking at least thirty years younger than before, Bai Chen stood there quietly.

"Bai Chen."

Li Fei narrowed his eyes and gripped the Ghost-Slaying Blade in his hand.

"Amitabha, why did Benefactor Bai Chen come here? Although the Marquis of Jing'an is powerful, this old monk can still handle it."

Jing Lian's voice rang out.

In his view, Bai Chen was a very critical combat power and should be playing a role on the peak experts' battlefield.

"Master, leave this person to me; you go over there and help."

Bai Chen's voice was like a sword, piercing through the two worlds, ringing out.

"Benefactor Bai Chen, you..."

Jing Lian's tone sank.

His killing power was far inferior to Bai Chen's, and his strength and realm were also inferior to the other party's, so Bai Chen was more suitable for breaking the situation than him; naturally, he was unwilling to make such an exchange.

"Master!"

Bai Chen's long sword suddenly let out a sword hum, and astonishing sword intent filled the world:

"I ask for your fulfillment!"

Jing Lian felt Bai Chen's determination and killing intent and didn't try to persuade him further, decisively controlling his natal beads to fly away.

Once the Pure Land Barrier was gone, Li Fei's 【Mixed Origin Sword Realm】 immediately recovered its peak momentum, enveloping Bai Chen within it.

Bai Chen didn't activate his Martial Dao domain, just stood there calmly holding his sword, looking at Li Fei.

Facing those deep eyes, Li Fei felt a fated attraction.

Zhang Yuanhong's cold, gloomy face flashed through his mind.

"So that's how it is."

Li Fei raised his Ghost-Slaying Blade with one hand, pointing at Bai Chen not far away.

The sun and moon shone together above the two people's heads, the central altar vibrated slightly, and sword Qi whistled.

Sword intent and killing intent filled the entire world.

Swish—

Blade light and sword glow lit up at the same time.

"Then—I'll kill you again!"

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 514 =====